I live in the area, and from what I've been told the railroads are making a lot more on car storage than they would hauling carload grain. That being said, the P&L line is open and in use about once a week, and both the Colfax and Thornton lines are seeing traffic at least once a week.

The thing about shipping grain by rail vs truck/barge in this area comes down to the ability of the transport network to react quickly to changing market dynamics. If a farmer decides on the spur of the moment that he wants to sell a thousand bushels of his stored wheat, he can usually get a truck to his grain bins within hours, and within two days max his grain is heading down the river via barge to Portland or Kalama. Contrast that with trying to ship by rail, where it might take a week (if that soon) for the railroad to spot a few hoppers at the nearest elevator with a working rail siding.

The one exception might be if he can get his grain to Ritzville and the BNSF shuttle facility, where I believe BNSF provides service two or three times a week. Of course, if you try to truck your grain from the Pullman area to Ritzville just for the pleasure of using rail service, you've already blown your margins relative to just trucking it down to Lewiston, Wilma, or Almota.